Australia vs India: Shoaib Akhtar voices his support for Virat Kohli

At a time when Indian captain Virat Kohli has left the fans and former cricketers divided over his approach to the game Down Under, another former great from across the border has come out supporting him. Shoaib Akhtar believes aggression is all the more a part and parcel of the game when one is competing in Australia, one of the toughest countries in the international circuit to play cricket.

Kohli came under criticism from a number of former players both from India and Australia for his aggressive gesture shown during the second Test against Australia in Perth. Kohli got engaged in a verbal duel with his counterpart Tim Paine in Perth which though was not about anger but yet it did not go down well with many. Even veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah called the Indian captain the “worst behaved player in the world” adding more to the controversy.

He is one of the modern greats of the game

However, Pakistan’s former tearaway fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who was no less aggressive during his playing days, especially against teams like India and Australia, stood by Kohli saying in a tweet that aggression is a part and parcel of competitive cricket, particularly when the venue is Australia. He referred to Kohli as one of the “modern greats” of cricket and asked people to cut the latter some slack. He also said that aggression is fine as long as it is within the limits.

@imVkohli is one of the modern greats of the game. Aggression has been a part & parcel of competitive cricket, specially when you are playing Down Under as long as it stays in limit. Please cut him some slack.

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) December 20, 2018

Kohli hit a magnificent hundred in the game in Perth but yet could not save his team from losing the game by 146 runs and allowing the Kangaroos to level the series 1-1, thanks to a collective failure with the bat. He also attracted criticism for not leaving the wicket at once after getting caught in the slips at a very low height.

The inaugural Test in Perth will be remembered as one between Kohli versus Australia for a number of instances the Indian captain found himself his horns locked with the opponent.

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